LG Chem is making a full-scale entry into the next-generation display materials market by developing new technology capable of realizing foldable displays through the utilization of new material technology and accumulated coating technology.

LG Chem announced on the 7th that it has developed a 'Real Folding Window,' a cover window for foldable IT devices that is as hard as glass on the flat side but as flexible as plastic at the folding part by applying a specially developed coating agent.

The cover window is a key material located on the outermost part of an IT device that protects the display panel from impact while delivering a clear image.

It is characterized by the need to possess not only durability and transmittance but also flexible bending properties that allow it to be folded.

Unlike existing materials such as polyimide films or tempered glass, LG Chem's cover window, featuring its new coating technology, maximizes flexibility while addressing the chronic folding issue at the screen connection point. They explained that they can provide solutions optimized for foldable phones, such as improving the surface.

The real folding window developed by LG Chem complements the heat resistance and mechanical properties of plastic materials by coating both sides of a PET film, a type of thin plastic, with a new material to a thickness of tens of micrometers (㎛).

Compared to conventional tempered glass, it is thinner and has the same level of hardness, yet there is no cracking phenomenon where the screen breaks.

It has excellent price competitiveness compared to conventional polyimide films, and maintains its durability even after being folded more than 200,000 times based on its superior flexibility.

LG Chem has significantly improved the wrinkles that occur in the screen folding area compared to existing products.

In particular, while currently commercialized cover windows are optimized for the in-folding method where the screen folds inward, LG Chem’s Real Folding Window has the advantage of being able to implement the out-folding method where the screen folds outward.

LG Chem is also developing technology to create thin real folding windows using only coating, without a separate PET film. Products using a coating method without PET film are expected to be applied to foldable phones and rollable IT devices that require a thin thickness.

LG Chem has identified customer needs for cover window materials, such as thin thickness, clean appearance, and stable folding characteristics, and has completed the development and verification of coating-type cover window technology. The company plans to secure mass production capabilities by 2022 and begin full-scale product sales starting in 2023.

“With the Real Folding Window developed this time, we have taken another step closer to resolving customers’ pain points and are already receiving joint project proposals from various customers,” said Jang Do-gi, Senior Vice President and Head of the IT Materials Business Division at LG Chem. “We will strengthen partnerships with leading smartphone companies to expand the market into new foldable application fields, such as laptops and tablets, starting with mobile devices.”

Meanwhile, according to global market research firm Omdia, the foldable phone market is projected to grow rapidly from 3.5 million units in 2020 to 50 million units in 2026.